Casing-spear.



N0. 89?;250. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1908. M. W. CARROLL. CASING SPEAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1907.

amewtoz flttoznu o W AM /W sufficient hardness to prevent undue wearing and to insure the proper gripping action. 1

Another ob'ect is to improve the means UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

MONROE W. CARROLL, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO H. G. JOHNSTON,

' OF OORS-ICANA, TEXAS.

CASING-SPEAK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 25, 1908.

the proper flexibility for expansion and at' the same time will have gripping teeth of for tripping t e gripping member so as to release it from the casing in the well after engagement therewith and so as to permit the spear to be withdrawn from the well where it is impossible to draw the casing out with it. This tripping action in my device may be secured by a simple manipulation of the o crating rod by which the spear is norma y raised and lowered and;

without lowering into the Well any separate trip operating device.

Other obg'ects and advantages of the "invention wil scription.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side view 0 thecasing spear, the operating, rod being broken away; Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal section of the construction shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a cross section taken upon the line 4-'-4 of Fig. 2.

My casing spear is made up of three main parts which are the tapered arbor 1, the expansible gripping member 2 mounted thereon, and the couplin 3, which connects the tapered arbor with t e o crating rod 4.. I have shown the tapered ar or as carrying at its lower end the enetrating point 5, which is usual in this 0 ass of devices. The

gripping member 2 is made up of the conical split ring 6 which is made from spring metal and which has a shoulder or ledge 7 around its bottom. This ring is split vertically from toprto bottom at the point marked 8 so as to permitit to expand as it descends on the be clear from thefollowing de conical arbor 1. On the outer surface of this conical ring are placed the vertical sections 9 of hard metal provided with the usual teeth for engaging the casing which is to be withdrawn from the well. These sections are made thicker at the top than at the bottom so that the outer surface of the teeth will conform, generally to the shape of the cylinder. These sections are riveted to the split ring 6 by rivets 10 and rest at their lower ends u on the flange 7. it will be noted that t is construction of gripping member produces a device which has as much flexibility as is desired since the split ring 6 may be made as thin or as flexible as the manufacturer may wish, and it also produces a device in which the teeth may be hardened to any degree desired.

It has beenfound that attempts to make the gripping ring of one piece of metal have not been completely successful, since where the metal is tempered to have the proper spring action the teeth forming a part of it will be too soft to serve the purpose of eflioiently engaging and Withdrawing the casin On the other hand,if the teeth are made sufi oiently hard, the rin will be too stiff and brittle to expand free y and properly for the purpose of engaging the casing. The object of in construction is ,to secure the advantages of both the hard and the soft ring without the disadvantages of either.

The arbor 1 is connected to the coupling 3 by a long screw-threaded connection 11, and it will-be noted that the lower end of the coupling 3 projects some distance beyond the circumference of the upper end of the tapered dportion of the arbor 1, thus forming a'shoul or 12 against which the upper end of the grip ing member may abut.

Mounte upon the coupling 3 is a nut 13 carried by the screw-threads 14 which extend to the upper end of the cou ling. This nut has a square .loweredge an is intended to engage the upper is to be Withdrawn. The engagement of this nut with the upper end of the casing indicates to the operator when .the spear is inside the casing and in position to en the purpose of Withdrawing it. is sp it or for any other reason the gripping means cannot secure a good hold at that point, the operator may, by rotating the rod 4, unscrew the nut 13-from the coupling 3,

f the pipe end of the casing which age it for withdrawn from the well without again bringing the gripping means into engagement with ating mechanism.

thus letting the spear descend further into 1 the casing.

Mounted in the arbor 1 are the lugs 15 which'are engaged by the springs 16 tending normally to force those lugs outward beyond the circumference of the tapered arbor. These lugs are placed in the arbor a distance below the shoulder 12 less than the length of the split ring 6, sothat these lugs will normally be prevented from projecting beyond the surface of the arbor'by contact with the interior surface. These lugs are for the purpose of tripping the gripping means so as to prevent it from descending on the tapered arbor and from expanding to engage the easing to be withdrawn. In order to bring them into'operation and allow them to proj-ect from the arbor below the end of the ring 6 for the purpose of supporting it, as shown in Fig. 1, it is necessary to elevate the shoulder 12 against which the upper end of the ring 6 abuts. This is done by a few-turns ofthe coupling 3 in the direction to unscrew it from the screw threads 11, and it is to be understood that this operation may be effected by turning the rod 4 in cases where the gripping means is in engagement with the casing to be removed so that it cannot rotate. This tripping means is intended primarily for use when the spear has engaged a casing which it is found impossible to remove, and when it is therefore desired to remove the spear from the well so that it will not be lost as wellas the casing. The gripping means being in engagement with the casing, all that it is necessary forthe operator to 'do to trip it is to turn the rod 4 a few times in the proper direction to partly unscrew the coupling 3, and then'give a downward thrust to the rod 4 whereby the arbor 1 will slide downward through the gripping ring 2 until the lugs 12 project below its lower end. The entire device may then be the casing.

It will be understood that the lugs 15 may be of any desired form, and may be operated in any suitable way to make them automatically tend to project from the surface of the arbor 1. It will be noted that this construction prevents the tripping of the gripping means when it is being inserted in the well, but'at the same time permits the operator to trip it whenever desired by mere manipulation of the operating rod by which the spear is elevated and lowered, and without the intervention of any other or separate trip oper- I prefer to make the ring 6 of spring steel and prefer to make the rod 4 in the shape of a tube, but this is not essential. It will be understood that the threads for the connection 11 extend in-the opposite direction from the threads forthe nut 13 so that to operate one it is necessary to turn the rod in the opposite direction from that necessary in operating the other.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A gripping member for easing s ears made up of a split ring of spring meta and hardened gripping projections attached thereto. I

2. A gripping-member for easing spears made up of a conical split ring of spring metal having riveted to its outer surface sections of hardened metal provided with gripping projections. 3. In a casing s ear, the combination with the spear head inc uding expansible gripping means, of an operating rod for raising and lowering said spear head, tripping devices within said head, and connections between said rod and head whereby a rotation of the rod in one direction ermits said tripping devices to comeinto p ay.

4. In a casing spear, the combination with a tapered arbor, of an expansible gripping member slidably mounted thereon, a coupling screw threaded to the upper end of said arbor and forming an abutment for the upper end of said gripping member and lugs in said arbor bearing normally against the innersurface of said gripping member a distance from said coupling less than the length of the gripping member and adapted to project beneath said gripping member when the coupling is partly unscrewed from the arbor.

5. In a casing s ear, the combination with a tapered arbor o a split conical expansible gripping ring slidably mounted thereon, a coupling having long screw-threaded connec tion with the upper end of said arbor and forming an abutment for the upper end of said gripping ring and spring pressed-lugs mounted in said tapered arbor bearing outwardly against the inner surface of said ring a distance from the lower end of the coupling less than the width of the conical ring and adapted to project beneath said gripping member when the coupling is partly unscrewed from the arbor.

6. In a casing spear, the combination with a spear head including ex ansible gripping means of an operating roc for raising and lowering said head and an adjustable nut above said head of such size as to engage and rest upon the to of the casing to be engaged by the expansib e gripping means.

In a casing spear, the combination with a spear head including ex ansible gripping means of an operating rod for raising and lowering said head, a coupling joining said parts, a nut on said coupling and screw threads for said nut extending to the upper end of said coupling.

8. In a casing spearthe combination with a tapered arbor, of an expansible gripping member slidably mounted thereon, a con ling adjustably secured to the upper end said arbor and forming an abutment for the upper end of said grip ing member, and lugs 11 adapted to engage an support said gripping member when said member and the coupling are in their upper adjusted positions.

of in presence of two witnesses.

In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature MONROE W. CARROLL.

Witnesses:

F. T. SMITH, EMMETT T. FLETCHER. 

